Indy weather service office to test new alerts

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The National Weather Service's Indianapolis office is joining a project to test new weather alerts intended to give the public more detailed information about severe weather threats.

The agency's Indianapolis office is one of 38 primarily Midwestern branches that will adopt the new impact-based warning system on April 1.

WRTV-TV reports (http://bit.ly/XyVT08 ) the new system is intended to communicate a storm's hazard and risk information, and not specific data about a storm's intensity.

The system first tested out last year in Missouri and Kansas includes various levels of tornado threats, with alerts warning about damage that could range from "considerable" to "catastrophic."

The warning system is primarily targeting media and emergency management personnel. The weather service will review the system's effectiveness after the severe weather season ends.

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Information from: WRTV-TV, http://www.theindychannel.com/index.html